First, let me be very clear: I am not a doctor. And I’m not dispensing medical advice.
I’m telling you some of the 5 Unusual Signs Your Kid Needs to See a Doctor Fast that I have had personally experienced in the short time I’ve been a mom.
So, whether you want to hear about the medical care you can receive at a CareNow Urgent Care center (they’re open late and on weekends at their over 100 locations nationwide) or you’re just here for information and maybe a little laugh at my ineptitude at parenting, read-on, friend.
5 Unusual Signs Your Kid Needs to See a Doctor Fast
- A combination of hives/itching and coughing for no discernible reason. Did you know that this could be a sign of an allergic reaction? Me either. Until it happened to us. Seriously, according to our allergist (because yeah, we have one now) any combination of skin irritation/breathing trouble/blood pressure drop/vomiting could be an allergic reaction. And if a little dose of Benadryl doesn’t help in 10 minutes, you just need to hit the road and visit a CareNow Urgent Care center near you. CareNow can quickly evaluate rashes and skin conditions, but if your child is showing signs of a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction (trouble breathing, nonstop vomiting) you should go to the closest ER.
- Minor cuts and injuries that might need stitches. Now this is something everyone should know, and maybe some of you do, but I didn’t. If a cut won’t stop bleeding, regardless of how deep or where it is, after about an hour, you need to go see the doctor. Doctors can’t do stitches after 6-8 hours in some situations, so it’s important that this gets taken care of as quickly as possible. If you have to change the Band-Aid because it’s bleeding through and it’s been more than an hour, look up your closest CareNow and head over there. For major, life-threatening injuries always call 911 or go to your closest ER.
- The Sniffles with Fever. I don’t know if everyone even knows what this is, but not all strep throat cases are a traditional “my throat hurts”. Sometimes, it’s an achy neck and a sniffle combined with a low-grade fever. Oh, and there’s more. Sometimes, your kid just feels a bit “off” with that fever—not like a normal cold. So, having the sniffles and a fever, maybe just get that doctor-recommended strep-test, yeah?
- When a bump is more than a little boo-boo. This actually happened to us and it was, needless to say, horrible. Say your kiddo hits the edge of a concrete step and twists an ankle or falls on their arm? That’s not good. You need to scoop ‘em up and head to a doctor who does x-rays (like those at CareNow!).
- Green vomit. Unless your kiddo just ate a load of green beans and lime Jell-O, green vomit could be a sign of an obstruction in their digestion tract. So, if they vomit green and it’s not because of something they ate being green, well, you should probably head in to an urgent care. Might just be a stomach-bug, but there’s no reason to chance it. Lots of vomiting can put kids at risk for dehydration. Don’t wait until it gets more serious to get checked out.
Now, again, I’m no doctor (my handwriting is so stellar, they wouldn’t let me in med-school!), but I do know these 5 Unusual Signs Your Kid Needs to See a Doctor Fast because I have literally been that mom driving their kid to the ER at 4am because a cut STILL won’t stop bleeding. Had I thought to go to a CareNow Urgent Care center when I first noticed it wouldn’t stop bleeding, well, I would have been a much happier camper.
For real, I could have hopped onto the Web Check-In for my local CareNow and we would have been in to see a doctor in about 20 minutes.
No unnecessary waiting, no lines, no hassle.
But there I was, not trusting my gut instinct when I really needed to. Now I know. For next time.
Learn more about what CareNow does at CareNow.com and check out their blog for more information.
If you love this post, be sure to pin it so that you can find it again, the next time you’d like to laugh at me–or have a little reminder of the unusual signs that your kid needs to see a doctor fast.